Distance Makes the Heart Grow Fonder
by Saranwyn
Summary: RoyEd one-shot. Set after the conclusion of Brotherhood, except Edward kept his automail and his alchemy. Mustang has been promoted to Brigadier General and has not seen Ed in a year. In the boy's absence, he discovers some unexpected feelings. On a low, Mustang goes to a bar only to find a certain blond-haired alchemist is back in town. Warning: SLASH! Don't like, don't read!


I have had a long day, a long week, hell it's just been a rough year. Becoming Brigadier General, while a step I really wanted to take, came with it's share of complications. And even with all my men supporting me, still, I feel the lack of Fullmetal's presence acutely – more acutely than I should. After he got his brother's body back, he was allowed some time off to oversee his recovery. And I hadn't seen him since. He was an annoying, little pipsqueak, but I'll be damned if he wasn't nice to have around sometimes. And it was good stress-relief to tease him, and sometimes I kind of just liked…looking at him. Well, dammit, I miss him! I'm missing him more than reasonable or right. I find myself thinking about him all the time. Sometimes, in the middle of paperwork I'll find myself imagining him coming into my office, his soft, golden hair braided and tossed over one shoulder, bright, golden eyes glaring defiantly.

In my own little fantasy, he saunters over to my desk and slaps down a report – late of course, but I'm far too interested in the sloping curve of his neck to care. I hear a rustle of cloth and his red coat drops to the floor, leaving him in only a tight, black tank top and his black, leather pants that are just tight enough to provoke imagination. He smirks slightly and crawls up onto my desk. Deftly, his metal hand comes up to unbraid his hair, letting it cascade down around his shoulders. He lifts his hands above his head, exposing a tantalizing strip of skin right above the waistband of his pants. His soft, pink lips part slightly in a slight gasp. A small, wet tongue flicks out over his lower lip. He groans my name softly, rolling his hips sensually. Mustang…Mustang

"Mustang." My attention snaps from my daydream to the person _really_ saying my name – Lieutenant Hawkeye. "General. I'm out." I blink. Oh. It's already seven o'clock.

"Fine. I'll finish up here and leave." She looks like she wants to say something but doesn't. "Is there something you want to say?"

"…No, sir. Get some rest." She bows and walks off, the door clicking shut behind her. I sigh heavily and turn back to my paperwork. Finally I finish all my work for the day and stand up. I don't feel like going home. It's…lonely. So instead, I head to a bar. I push open the door and come in. A flash of red and gold catches my eye. No way…I approach the figure.

"F-Fullmetal?" Edward Elric turns around and looks at me, lips parted in a subtle gasp. His gold eyes are wide as he stares at me. I scan him up and down. His hair has gotten longer – it's almost down to his waist, now – and he's thinner than before…almost gaunt.

"Colonel…I mean…General," he mumbles.

"May I sit here?" I ask, gesturing to the stool beside him. He nods and I sit down. "I thought you were in Resembool."

"I…I was," he replies, his eyes shifting to his drink.

"You're under-aged," I point out. He doesn't look up at me. What happened to him? He looks so worried and thin and pale. And why isn't he with Alfonse? "What brings you to Central?" I ask, taking his drink from him.

"I just needed some time, I guess."

"When did you get in?"

"Just an hour ago." And already drinking? "I thought about stopping by the office, but I figured you were busy…"

"You should have…stopped by." I order a water and give it to him to keep him from drinking any more beer.

"You don't have to act like my dad, you know," he points out.

"I'm not." He opens his mouth to argue then shuts it and nods, sipping the water. "Look, about a year ago…" I begin. We need to clear this up, anyways.

"I'm sorry. I…I don't know why I was angry at you. I shouldn't have been."

"You were stressed and tired. I pushed you. It's _I_ who should be apologizing." I watch his face carefully. Parting over bad words had seemed like nothing at the time, but after a year of absence I'd grown to regret it. I don't really even remember why we'd argued, but for the past year, I've wished every day that we hadn't.

"You were nothing but good to Al and I," he points out. "Even if you were a b-bastard," he stumbled over the word in a way that was very un-Ed-like. "I should've kept my temper because of everything you did for us."

"Are you okay, Fullmetal?" I resist the urge to call him by his given name. He nods and steals a glance up at me before returning his gaze to his mug.

"Yeah."

"I thought you'd want to stay with your brother."

"Well, I think we both needed some time." I wonder what happened between them. I guess after Al got his body back things must've changed. Maybe it's just been a hard transition for him? Still, I can't help but feel like there's something more than just general stress. Why now, after a year? Why would he come back to Central, of all places?

"Which is why you were drinking?" I pursue.

"Can't I just be curious about what adults do? You know…how alcohol tastes and stuff?" He still won't look at me. _Look_ at me, dammit!

"No, Edward. You can't." He starts at my use of his actual name. Finally. Relenting, he sighs and takes a drink before finally giving me some answers.

"Alfonse and I had a fight. I mean, there's been a lot of…stress between us, once he started getting his health back. It's mostly about the matter of my…employment." I could already see the fight. Edward still owed the army time, but that didn't mean he wouldn't try to get out of it, if at all feasible – or put it off as long as possible. Alfonse had always been the more responsible of the two.

"Oh?" I can't blame Edward for wanting to quit the army. He's only a kid, and he's a free spirit and…well, it's not like this is a pleasant job.

"Alfonse wants me to quit." Wait, what? I blink. That was unexpected. "I…I wanted to go back. I guess when he got back on his feet again, I guess it was a few months after we went back to Resembool, I wanted to leave. I mean, it's not that I don't care about him! That's not it! It's more like…well…I…anyways, I wanted to come back, because – you know – he didn't need me around all the time anymore. He kept asking me to stay longer and help him assimilate and you now, support him, and maybe I was a little hasty to want to leave, at first, but now…well, my return has been put off for too long."

"Oh." He wanted to come back. Al wanted him to stay and they'd fought over it. It was exactly opposite of what I thought. "So you don't want to quit." Despite being stated as a statement, it was really a question.

"No! I-I mean…no, I don't want to. You worked very hard to help us, so I want to help you achieve your goals, too. And I think that I can only do that by staying in the military." A light blush dusts his cheeks and his eyes search for anything to look at other than me. "Anyways, two days ago, we had a particularly bad fight about it where he basically told me I should quit. That…that my work with the military was evil…that it was bad for me, that it was…pointless. I just…got angry, and I caught the first train back to Central to get back to work."

"He hurt you…didn't he?" I whisper softly. He blinks, alarmed at perhaps how perceptive I was. I'm sure he thought he was being subtle, after all.

"N-no, just pissed me off." I nodded. So he was very deeply hurt. "Besides, I guess it was hard…for me to accept that he didn't need me, anymore." I can understand that. I feel my heart go out to the poor boy, but I don't really know what to say. Eventually I manage to get some words out of my mouth.

"He still _does_ need you, you know. Just not…the same way as before." It came out sounding like a load of bull even though I actually meant what I said. He took a deep breath, and I realized this fight with his brother was affecting him even more deeply than I'd thought. "Did your brother say something else?"

"H-he just kept talking about how evil the military was. How…how horrible it was. And then he said that I was choosing the military over him. I don't know, he just…said some very unfair things. I got upset. I'm kind of angry at myself…and I…I don't know. It was just hard…being with him." It seems now that I got him talking, he was going to have it all out. "It's just…it was lonely." Oh, Ed…I finish his drink for him while he sips my water. "Colonel…er, General?" He sounds hesitant, almost shy.

"Yeah?" I ask.

"I…um…I…" He fumbles for words, his cheeks turning an attractive shade of red, his eyes intently focused on a small scratch he's making on the countertop with his automail forefinger.

"Yes? You…?" He licks his lower lip anxiously. Oh, God, does he know how much he's tantalizing me, right now? He chances a glance up at me, and I can tell he immediately regrets it, because he flushes deeper. I do my best to smile encouragingly at him.

"N-nothing…I…don't know," he mumbles, leaving me slightly disappointed. Well, what did I expect, anyways? He stands up and I quickly follow suit.

"Do you have a place to stay tonight?" I force the words out quickly before I can think better of them.

"I-I was going to get a hotel…" he explains. Continuing my momentum of courage before it fails entirely, I grab his shoulder to keep him from leaving.

"Stay with me!" That came out as more of an order than I'd wanted. "I mean…you could stay at my place, if you wanted…" I revise quickly. "You're lonely, right? You said so, yourself. Well, I'm lonely, too, so…" I trail off. "So it might be nice to share a meal with someone, and I could give you a ride to work tomorrow." He stares at me for a moment and then nods.

"Thanks, Co—General. Oh, congratulations…on the promotion."

"Thank you." I follow him out of the bar and we go to my car. I find myself opening the door for him, which earns me a curious frown.

"You don't need to treat me like a girl," he points out, perhaps not as harshly as he would've liked. I mutter my agreement and get in the driver's seat. I drive us back to my apartment and we go in. He glances sideways at me as I hang up my coat, his tongue flitting out over his lower lip. My eyes catch on it and follow its path, and I swallow hard. Oh, God, I want to jump him, so badly. How did I ever control myself, before? "Colonel…my head feels a little…light and woozy…" he informs me.

"That's the alcohol. No doubt your tolerance is low, because it's your first time – don't tell me if it isn't – not to mention you're still pretty short, and you've got the automail making your body mass even smaller." I waited for his rant about being called short, but it didn't come. "Are you okay?" I ask. He nods.

"I've just…been doing some soul searching…I guess," he mumbles.

"Right, well, I'll get you a change of clothes so you can shower and go to bed, okay?" I hurry off to do just that, glad for the distraction. Unbidden in my mind rises an image of Edward slowly stripping to get into the shower – _my_ shower. First to go would be the coat, sliding off his slim shoulders, revealing pale, toned arms, one metal the other flesh. He lifts up his shirt, exposing his well-muscled abdomen, taunting me as he pulls it up off over his head. The dull glint of metal runs along the connection of his flesh to automail, silver connected to scarred skin on his chest. His one, visible nipple is pert from the chill, begging to be touched. His fingers deftly undo the tie in his hair and with a toss of his head, it comes out of its plait and spills around his shoulders like scattered rays of sunlight. His hands now skim down his slender, shapely torso to his hips, narrow and swaying slightly. His fingers fumble with the button on his pants a moment before it pops open…

"Colonel? I-I mean General?" Edward's voice breaks me from my reverie. Oh, God in Heaven strike me down, now, or I will not last the night without jumping him. I grab some clothes and a towel and shove them into his hands. "Are you okay?"

"Y-yeah, just…um, spaced out for a moment." He looks me up and down.

"Your cheeks are a little red; are you sick?"

"N-no, it's nothing." I turn away. How long has it been since I've actually blushed? Dammit, this could've been a very bad idea. I hear the bathroom door close and the water turn on. Sighing heavily, I slump against the wall, trying to ignore the fact that just through that wall is a very naked Edward Elric. I close my eyes and I can practically _see_ the water cascading down his body in little rivulets, following every gorgeous curve and ripple, and suddenly I was painfully aware of my lack of knowledge of a certain area of his body. I've never seen Edward's full body – not even in my dreams. My mind has refused to come up with an image, though I've gotten a good enough idea due to the tightness of his pants.

I force my eyes open, squashing down the urge to go to him and satisfy my curiosity about his body, right now. I hear a groan and my first thought is that he's somehow managed to hurt himself. Then there is another, breathy moan. My heart skips a beat. Oh, God, you hate me, don't you? I should _not_ be listening to my subordinate – who gets me hot just by being in the same room as me – in my shower, _masturbating_, but how can I resist? When I've wanted him for _so_ long? He gasps again, and then…

"C-Colonel…" I freeze. "M-Mustang, ohhhh…." He's…he's doing _that_ to thoughts of _me_? I didn't think he even liked men. I mean, I don't…didn't…I mean, I've always been a ladies' man…until him. When _he_ pranced into my life, I lost all interest in women. He really screwed up my life. Without quite meaning to, I open the bathroom door and come in.

"Edward," I intone deeply, not even trying to keep the lust out of my voice.

"C-Co…I mean…General!" he gasps. "What are you-?" I yank back the curtains. He tries to cover himself. "Hey! What the hell are you doing?"

"Are you getting hot over me, Fullmetal…in my very own shower?" He flushes deeply.

"Y-you heard…" he mumbles.

"Yes, Edward…I heard." I shrug off my military jacket and let it just drop to the floor before starting on the buttons of my shirt.

"W-what are you doing?" he rasps, his eyes wide and following my hands as I open my shirt and push it off my shoulders. My eyes wander over his body. Oh, God, he's even better than I imagined. Every detail about him is perfect. I lick my lips. "Mustang?" Even as he asks me what I'm doing, his eyes are hungrily staring at me, finishing what my hands have already started. I drop my hands to my pants. "What are you…?"

"What does it look like I'm doing? You're taking entirely too long in the shower…so I thought I'd join you before the hot water runs out," I purr. Every fiber of my being is suddenly focused on one task: seduce Edward Elric. I push down my pants and boxers a little past my hips and gravity does the rest. He swallows hard at his eyes take me in. I'm not even trying to cover myself, totally unabashed that I'm already half-hard from listening to him and seeing him like this. I step into the shower and push him back a little to make room. He shivers at the touch of my hand on his chest. "See something you like?" I whisper hotly in his ear.

"Colonel," he whispers, forgetting to correct himself. How can he make a title sound so, incredibly sexy? I snake an arm around his waist and press my lips lightly to his ear.

"I want you." He shudders and arches into me. My lips nibble at his ear, followed by my teeth, then at last my tongue joins in, laving the lobe in my mouth and sucking on it gently.

"Mustang. Ah…" he moans. My mouth travels down his neck, pausing to give extra attention to his collarbone, though I maintain enough sense to keep from leaving a mark. I scrape my teeth down his chest, ducking to take his single, pink nipple into my mouth. He gasps and arches further, the fingers of his left hand burying into my hair. I suck the water off of his skin and take that bud between my teeth, tugging on it lightly and squeezing it until he can't hold back his moans anymore. I move to the other side of his chest, licking along the scars that mark the union of his body to his automail. "Colonel."

"Roy," I correct him. Oh, please, please, please say my name.

"Roooooyyyyyy…." He moans as I suck on the skin, one hand coming up to tangle into his long, blond hair and the other memorizing every joint and screw of his right arm. I had originally thought the automail would be unpleasant – God, had I been wrong. The cold, hard metal of his leg hooks around my own calf muscle as he leans back against the wall of the shower. I drop to my knees to trace his abs with my tongue, delighting in the whimpered moans bubbling past his lips. He's actually a lot more muscular than I'd thought. All the better for me, then. "Colonel…ahhh…please…" he whispers as my hands teasingly dance along the insides of his thighs. I smirk against his stomach before dipping my head a little to teasingly lick the tip of his already weeping arousal. "Ah!" he squeaks his surprise and arches, slamming his head back against the wall. A quick glance up at his face assures me that he's not hurt. Well, I always knew he was hard-headed. "Colonel," he whines. I love the way he says that. I duck my head to take all of his length into my mouth. He groans his pleasure and his hips jerk forwards.

"Mmmmm," I hum around his member, constricting my throat and bobbing up and down on his length. Now, he has both hands curled tightly – borderline painfully – into my hair, but he's not choking me, so I let them stay there. I place my hands on his knees and gently push outwards, signaling that I wanted him to spread his legs further, which he does. Using the water as lubricant, I press the tip of my forefinger to his entrance. By this point, I'm painfully hard, longing to just thrust up into his tight, wet heat, but I hang on to my sanity enough to know I should prepare him, first. He tenses up around my finger, unsure about the intrusion but I suck a little harder and stroke the scars right by his automail leg, and he relaxes. I pump it in and out a few times before adding a second.

"Ah…" he hisses, not entirely pleased with the feeling. I take my mouth off his member and kiss his stomach.

"It's okay…I won't hurt you…I promise," I assure him, wiggling my fingers around in an attempt to find that spot inside him that will make him scream with pleasure. He nods, combing his fingers through my hair nervously.

"Okay." He relaxes more around my fingers. I move to suck him off again, but he stops me. "Don't I…I want to…be cognizant…for this part…" he murmurs. I nod and rest my cheek against his hip, scissoring my fingers until I feel its safe to add a third. He winces a little but nods for me to continue. I stretch him further, transfixed by the sight of my fingers disappearing into his hole. Oh, how much I want to see some _other_ part of me inside him. I can't take it anymore. I stand up and he nods, understanding what I want. He loops his arms around my neck and when I cup his thighs, he brings up his legs and wraps them around my waist, so I'm already pressed against his entrance, and he's trapped between my body and the shower wall.

"Ready?" He nods. "This is going to hurt…" He wiggles his hips, rubbing the head of my arousal against that tight ring of muscles. Unable to hold back anymore, I push up into that hot, tight passage. He moans, tossing his head back. I pause, waiting for him to adjust to my size.

"C-Colonel. M-move." I begin to thrust shallowly, relishing his little gasps and whimpers. "Roy…"

"Ed…" I reply, lengthening my strokes until I'm pulling almost all the way out before pushing all the way back in. Oh, it feels heavenly. I angle my hips, searching…

"_Roy_! There!" he screams. I smirk and hit his prostate, again. He arches, beginning to writhe against me, which makes it awfully hard to keep us upright. I stumble back a little, wrapping my arms around him to keep him from falling. He reaches up and grabs the curtain rail, using it to help lift off of me and plunge back down. I soak in the little whines and whimpers falling from his lips, urging me harder, faster, deeper. Gasps at the sensations running through me stumble from my mouth in their rush to get out. My hips jerk forward and I feel myself nearing the edge. I slip a hand between us and begin to pump his length in time to my thrusts. He moans and rests his head on my shoulder. "Roy…ahhh….Colonel…ohhhhh…" he pants. His muscles twitch around me and suddenly he explodes into my hand, sobbing his relief. "_ROY!_" The spasms around me bring me to my own, mind-blowing climax. My vision goes while and flecked with small spots of color as I clutch him close as his body milks me for all I'm worth, and I slide to my knees, unable to support us both through my pleasure.

The shower is only lukewarm, now, but I pull out of him and, still supporting him, wash us both up before carrying him to bed. He's basically asleep in my arms as I dress him in the pajamas I got for him and lie him down before crawling into bed next to him. He starts a little as I wrap my arms around him and press a chaste kiss to his lips.

"I love you, Edward," I whisper, suddenly unafraid. How long have I been keeping this secret? And here I give it up so easily now, after agonizing over it for so long. He's silent for a long time. Then he nuzzles my neck.

"I love you, too, Roy. I missed you…my Colonel."


End file.
